Following in the footsteps of their RIA brethren, broker dealers and wire houses are accelerating their use of social media. More importantly, they’re beginning to integrate new media into their marketing and business development efforts — a sign of the increasingly sophisticated view of social media platforms and content that’s taking hold.
New technology solutions are playing a big part in the trend, as this Investment News article notes. Technology provided the solution to the first problem facing brokerages — the need to archive social media content — with half a dozen firms now offering archiving products. Over the last three years, though, a more sophisticated approach has emerged: tools and platforms that allow financial firms to not only retain and archive their social media content, but also to integrate their social media selling, marketing, analytics and “social listening” in one place. A handful of companies now offer products in this niche.
Bank of America’s Global Wealth and Investment Management division (which includes Merrill and U.S. Trust) is one firm that ‘gets it’ — not only absorbing what clients and others share on social media sites, but also using that data to drive their research and publishing efforts. In addition, they use social media to interact with influencers and the media.
In a nutshell, in their role as “fast followers” — that is, following the early adopters of social media in the industry — these firms are evolving from the tactical to the strategic.
